Brands Built By Women: alterego

A brand-new series has arrived - Celebrating emerging female-founded brands you'll want to know.

Starting last week, we’re spotlighting inspiring consumer brands built by incredible women from all walks of life - founders who are creating a positive impact through their businesses.

We started Mindful Brand to support women succeed in business. Not just through what we do, but also in how we shop.

Deciding which businesses to support is a personal choice.

If, like us, you prefer to champion female-owned brands, we hope you enjoy this series.

Today, we’re featuring alterego, founded by Rose Hancock in 2025 in the UK.

About the Brand

alterego makes super rich and creamy cottage cheese you can enjoy both ways - healthy and indulgent.

Made in Scotland by cheesemakers with over 40 years of experience, its unique formulation uses only four ingredients: milk and cream from 100% British grass-fed cows, live cultures, and sea salt.

alterego's mission is to break all the cottage cheese stereotypes - proving it can be both good for you and taste like a treat.

Meet the Founder

Rose is a mum of two little ones, aged seven and five. She studied Human Anatomy at Bristol University and had a career in banking before becoming a founder.

Passionate about nutrition, she’s committed to choosing natural whole foods over ultra-processed ones for her children's healthy development.

How She Started

When Rose's newborn son needed antibiotics for sepsis, she became aware of how important gut health really is.

Cottage cheese had always been a family staple, but her kids disliked the texture and taste, and most versions she found lacked live cultures, contained additives, or were made abroad.

Seeing a gap in the market that aligned with her passion for nutrition, Rose founded alterego to challenge outdated cottage cheese stereotypes and make people fall in love with it again.

What She Learned

Rose has learned that as a founder, you can never fully switch off - at least not in the beginning. Distribution runs seven days a week, and when something goes wrong, there’s no one else to fix it.

You’ll often face problems that seem unsolvable but finding a way through them is incredibly rewarding.

You need to understand every part of your business. Doing everything yourself at first (or staying closely involved) gives you that insight, helping you make smarter decisions when it’s time to delegate or outsource.

Where to shop

alterego is available at Sainsbury’s in-store and online. For more product information please visit www.eat-alterego.com.

Follow on Instagram: @eat.alterego

Support brands built by women. Don’t just say it. Shop it.